About a great afternoon and old stories and other Athens, Greece Off The Beaten Path Tips

I realize it is not the most common thing to do for most tourist during their vacation but you may want to follow up on this tip when you visit Athens.

When it gets real warm in the afternoon, the Greeks stay off the street or find a shady terrace. You will mostly find them (the men that is) in a kafeneon, the coffee shops, where they talk, play cards and backgammon or just enjoy a drink and the company they are in.

Not too many older Greeks speak English but you may find a few who do or have some knowledge of French or German. You will find yourself having the time of your life trying to communicate and you will be surprised with the stories and legends the old Greeks have to tell. Buy them a drink and you will be sitting at their table in no time.

This is the very best way to get to know Athens and its people, its traditions, its ups and its downs and, long after you have returned home, you will remember that warm afternoon on the shady terrace of a kafeneon in Athens.

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Children are children and they always will be, whether they live in a big town or in the country. It is no secret big cities or not what one would call child-friendly and Athens, with its traffic, pollution and fast life, certainly is no exception. Up to some years ago there were not too many facilities available for Athens children to escape the city but over the last years a big effort has been made. Now children in Athens have ample opportunities to play and be creative, to listen, observe and enjoy themselves as much as they want to.

Athenian children are outside children, especially in summer when the days are long and warm. It has become a tradition for may families with children, to go to the National Garden on Saturday where the children can play on the playground, enjoy the duck pond with new made friends or play with the park's cats. They also will go to the Pikioni Park (Filothei), the Pedion tou Areos or have fun on Mount Ymithos. During winter they will go to cinema's, traditional shadow theatres, puppet shows or just enjoy themselves with friends at home.

If you want to combine creativeness and play for your children, you will find that many Athens museums have special children areas where they can learn about the museums collection in a playful way or express themselves in craft work, singing, acting etc. Who said museums are for old people?

Any child enjoys going for an ice-cream and a cold drink on a warm Athens afternoon. Your children probably won't be any different and Athens gives you all the opportunities to do so. Having lunch or diner on a green covered terrace will be another thing children won't say no to and in case your children don't find anything to their liking on the extensive menus restaurants have in traditional Greek food, you will also find more familiar food like spaghetti on most of them.

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Attiko Zoo
Gialou street, Spata (close to the airport)

Open: daily 09:00-17:00
Saturday and Sunday: 09:00-18:30
The Attiko Zoo is home to 2.000 birds (30 different species), as well as mammals (roe deer, lynx, wallabies, lions, snow leopards, jaguars etc.). There also is a playground, cafe and souvenir shop on site

National Gardens
Amalias avenue

Children can play in the immense park, feed the ducks at the duck pond, play in the playground or enjoy seeing the stacked water turtles in the turtle pond. There is a cafe, lots of cats and bird and it is a cool place to spend a warm Athens summer afternoon.

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Emporikon
7, Sarri street & 9, Riga Palamidi street, Psyri
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Sunday: 12:30. For adults: Tuesday. 22:00
"The Dragon's Wings": a performance with puppets and actors filled with images and music presented by the Prassein Aloga group.

Figoures kai Koukles
30, Tripodon street, Plaka
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Saturday: 17:00.
Original (paper) puppets from Antigoni Parousi's "Grey Box" puppet theatre.

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Athanasiou Shadow Theatre
356, Vouliagmenis avenue. & 10, Kougki Samouil street Agios Dimitrios
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Sunday: 11:30 & 15:30.
There is also a shadow puppet exhibition and a Karagkiozis (shadow theatre) workshop every Saturday at 11:00 & 12:30.

Figoures kai Koukles
30, Tripodon street Plaka
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Sunday: 11:00 & 17:00
In the foyer, Tasos Konstas has an exhibition area with collector's puppets made by well-known shadow theatre artists

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Ethniki Lyriki Skini
59-61, Akadimias street
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During the summer season 2004 Carmen Roungeri will be directing "The Magic Flute" by Mozart at the Herodion. This performance is very accessible to children but keep in mind that it usually is sold out quite early.

Porta
59, Mesogeion avenue
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Xenia Kalogeropoulou's stage for children, also known as Mikri Porta or Little Door, has brought up generations of young theatre lovers for over thirty years. The stage also is functioning as a nursery for young emerging actors and directors. This year, together with Thomas Moschopoulos, they have adapted the "King Stag" by Carlo Gozzi. This performance, with a great amount of improvisation, is strongly influenced by commedia dell' arte.

National Theatre Children's Stage
48, Panepistimiou street
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The well-presented fairy tale performances with the wonderful stage sets and costumes by the city's first national theatre have found a place in the heart of young theatre-goers and created the need for the establishment of an additional permanent stage at the National Theatre: the Children's Stage on Panepistimiou street. This year, an adaptation of the "Birds" by Aristophanes for children is being presented here entitled "The Land of Birds", directed and adapted by actor/director Giannis Kalatzopoulos.

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Founded in 1985, the Technological Educational Institution of Athens (TEI) is Greece's only educational institution in tertiary education offering a degree in the conservation of antiquities and works of art.

Approximately 90 students enrol annually completing a four-year programme. Besides their multi-disciplinary education - which includes courses in history of art, conservation theory, documentation methods, chemistry, biology and physics - these students must possess precision and patience, two skills rarely associated with today's fast-paced world.

Greek monuments that have undergone the TEI's special treatment include the prehistoric trunks of Lesvos' unique petrified forest, statues at Athens First Cemetery, religious paintings and icons from Aghios Nikolaos Ragavas, Aghia Erene, the Monastery of Aghia Ekaterina Sina, archaeological finds and works that belong
to the National Gallery.

Ag.Spyridonos street – Egaleo, Athens
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Cremation is not allowed by the Greek Orthodox Church. You are only allowed three years in your grave then they dig you up and put your bones in an ossuary to make room for the next guy. Unless you have your own mausoleum that is.

Some of Greece's finest sculptors come from the island of Tinos and a lot of the work you will see is done by Tiniots.

Many famous people are buried in the First Cemetery of Athens. You will find a lot of mausoleums from people who played a significant role in the history of Greece. The grave of, still very loved, Melina Mercuri is near the entrance of the cemetery.

This cemetery is more than worthwhile visiting.

Dionisseou Areopagitou street
Metro station: Acropolis
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Poulopoulos is an industrial building with very interesting and evident stonework, simple and strict arrangement of morphologic elements on the facets and the tile-covered roof. The stonework is interrupted by stone false-columns and the use of iron on the facets is characteristic. Its ground plan is trapezoid and its entrance is placed on the lateral side of the trapezium.

It served as a hat factory for a long period and it is connected to the life of the local community, consisting a significant place of reference for the area of Thission.
By a ministerial decree of 1985, the building is preserved as a monuments as it is considered to be a remarkable sample of industrial architecture. The building has been completely restored to serve as a multi-purpose cultural centre.

In 1886, Ilias Poulopoulos founded the Ellinikon Pilopieon (Hellenic Hattery) one of the most successful Greek businesses. A draper from Kalamata, he arrived in Athens intent on becoming an industrialist. The factory that he built at Thisseon was already fully equipped by 1900 and the hats he manufactured won international prizes.

The business continued to function until the middle of the 20th century in the same stone building on Herakleidon Street. Only a small portion of the original building has survived but was restored to its original form and belongs to the Cultural Organisation of the Municipality of Athens.

The Melina Merkouri Cultural Centre
66, Herakleidon street.- Thisseon
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Metro station: Monastiraki
Open: 09:00-13:00 & 17:00-21:00
Closed on Monday, Sunday evening and public holidays

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The Gazi (Gas) Factory was founded in 1857. It started functioning in 1862 and closed down its furnaces in August 1984. It was the last factory in Europe that was functioning in a traditional way until the day it closed. It was one of the first factories of the country, destined to produce the gas for lighting and later for heating the city.

Within its architectural space, one can see a real community, autonomous and self-reliant. The carpenter's shop, the melting-works, the machine-works, the garage for car repair, the restaurant, the barber-shop, the community clinic, were just some of the facilities offered by a well organized closed economy.

The complex has been completely restored by the City of Athens which is its owner. Today, the area of Gazi serves as an industrial park and is used as a cultural centre.

100, Pireos street
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